A Game With No Room For Hearts
by simply-aly
Summary: Caroline's revenge for what he almost did to her spans years.


Their first meeting is not an accident. It is completely staged by Caroline because a part of her has always wanted revenge for what he did to her. In the grand scheme of things, and compared to what _others_ have done to her, what Klaus did was by no means the worst, but knowing that doesn't stop her from wanting revenge. The problem with original vampires, she finds out during her quest, is that revenge is not easily won.

Caroline settles for imparting in him the knowledge that he did her wrong and that she is mad because if it. It is by no means what she had hoped for when she was dreaming up scenarios late at night, but it has to do.

She spends the better part of three years tracking him down, and when she pinpoints his location, she gets someone to trail him and track his daily schedule. She looks over the report for five days, trying to plan her attack.

They 'cross paths' at an upscale restaurant. She walks pointedly to his table and sits down without preamble. She is dressed to the nines in a low cut, red cocktail dress with black four inch stilettos and a string of pears accenting her neck, all or one of which catches his attention immediately in an aesthetic sense, she notices.

"Do I know you?" he inquires.

Caroline shakes her head, lips pursed. "No, but I know of you."

He studies her carefully for a moment, trying to place her. When he comes up empty, he speaks again. "_How_ do you know of me?"

She sips the white wine in her glass before answering, rather bluntly, "You tried to have me killed."

Klaus raises an eyebrow. "It would seem as though I've succeeded," he drawls.

Caroline shakes her head again. "No," she whispers, the point still a sore spot for her after all these years, "that was not your doing."

She stands up then and walks away, clicking her heals pointedly on the marble floor all throughout her departure.

She doesn't plan to see him again, although plans rarely seem to go as planned.

-x-

Two months later, she's sunning on a beach in the Caribbean—despite the fact that she cannot actually _get_ a tan anymore—when the shadow of a man falls on her body. "Take a picture," she throws at the unidentified person when they stay rooted in place for over three minuets, "it'll last longer."

The man doesn't even shift.

She pulls down her sunglasses and tilts her head to look even as she speaks. "Seriously, you're blocking my sun, so I'd appreciate it if—you would…move." Her finish is lame, and completely ruinous of the whole speech, for coherent thought goes out the window when she recognizes the vampire looking down at her.

"I followed you," he says out of nowhere.

She nods. "You're a little slow," she informs him.

He continues as if she hadn't spoken. "I was…curious."

Caroline raises an eyebrow before answering. "And you will continue to be so," she says as she pushes her sunglasses up and lies back down, "for I have no interest in speaking with you."

Klaus shrugs. "You seemed to enjoy speaking with me at the restaurant," he reminds her.

"I wasn't happy then, either, I'll have you know," she informs him. "I just thought you ought to know that I hated you for trying to kill me."

"What makes you think I care that you hate me?" he asks.

She sighs and turns to answer, but he isn't there.

-x-

She follows him to New York, his next stop; as well as the best place to wreak havoc as a vampire. When he finds her, she is perusing his library, particularly the ancient books on the origins of vampires. She cannot help but wonder which ones he and his family helped to write. "I might take a few of these when I leave," she informs him, deciding to be polite.

"Why are you here?" he asks. "And how did you get in? This place is tightly guarded."

Caroline rolls her eyes. "Guards are stupid," she says. She learned from Damon—her maker may not be good for a lot of things, but he knows how to get what he wants and he showed her how to apply the same principles to get what she wants. "And I'm a good actress," she continues, holding a seductive smile in place.

He nods, as if to concede the point, and sits down. "You never answered my question," he reminds her. "Why are you here?"

Caroline sighs and turns back to the bookshelves. "I wanted to talk and have decided that you will be my listener."

She gets the feeling he _likes_ letting her boss him around, for he just says, "Okay, talk."

She walks around him, deliberately letting the hem of her dress brush against his thigh as she moves, and sits in the chair opposite him, so they cannot see each other.

"I was turned by two vampires, one was trying to save me and the other was deliberately trying to kill me," she begins. In the end, she tells just enough of her tale to be intriguing, but not enough to give anything away. And she doesn't mention him even once.

She gets up and makes to leave when he calls to her. "So, I didn't try to kill you?" he asks.

Caroline smirks bitterly. "No, you did try to kill me—I didn't lie about that."

"You didn't mention it in that tale you just spun," he points out.

Caroline nods. "No," she says, "I didn't."

She leaves then, but not before making a stop to his bathroom, where she writes him a note in lipstick on the bathroom mirror.

_Your job is to figure it out; I'm not doing all the work for you._

-x-

She spends a year and a half in Ontario with Damon and Katherine. They all fight with each other more often than they get along, but Katherine knows how to avoid Klaus, and Caroline is giving him time to stew about her clue.

She boards a flight to Paris in the end because she knows Klaus is there.

"You're playing cat and mouse with a maniac," Damon warns her while he waits with her at the airport.

Caroline nods. "I know that," she says, "but the question is, who's the cat and who's the mouse?"

She leaves him with that and a day later is in Klaus's driveway when he gets back to his temporary house. He doesn't seem surprised to see her, and she even sees the slightest hint of a smirk on his face when his driver opens his door.

"I was beginning to wonder when I'd see you again," Klaus says conversationally as he passes her. He offers her his hand and she takes it, shuffling the bag in her hand to her shoulder.

"I figured it was about time I returned your books," she tells him.

"I probably shouldn't admit this," he admits, "but I still have no idea how you managed that one."

Caroline only laughs. "I'll not tell you all my secrets," she replies, digging through her bag before handing him the books.

He asks her to stay for dinner, but the salacious grin that follows the invitation promises more than she is willing to concede so she shakes her head. On her way out the door, Klaus grabs her wrist and spins her around. "Are you ever going to tell me who you are?" he asks. Caroline looks into his eyes for only the briefest of seconds before becoming aware of the power those eyes can hold. She will not let him win the game so easily.

"I believe the ball is in your court, Klaus," she whispers, pulling her arm free of his grasp.

She is on a plane home a few days later.

-x-

The ball may have been in his court, but he made no move to chase her. She spends a few weeks with Bonnie and her twenty three year old daughter in Virginia before moving to Milan. She pursues fashion for a few years and, after creating a successful label, turns the company over to her vice president and takes off on another venture to find Klaus.

It takes two years, but eventually he makes himself known in Japan, and Caroline follows.

She doesn't question her decision to meet up with him again, just as she never has before. Somewhere, deep within her mind, she has herself convinced it has something to do with revenge, but logic would dictate that there is nothing vengeful about seeking his company.

Once again, she meets him in the driveway of his newest temporary home.

"It's lovely to see you again, _Caroline_," Klaus greets her.

She raises an eyebrow. "So you've figured out who I am?"

He nods, closing the car door. She slides off the hood of one of his other cars and stands tall. He offers his hand and she takes it. There's a strange thrill that runs through her whenever she gets near him and this is her first chance at contact. It is absolutely invigorating. "What is it you want?" he asks when he has her sitting in his sitting room.

Caroline dismisses the question with a wave of her hand. "I don't feel like answering that question just yet," she tells him, "you're not ready for the answer."

The truth is, she isn't sure of her own motives, and providing no answer is easier than providing a false one or answering truthfully.

Klaus raises an eyebrow. "And how do you know me well enough to determine this?"

Caroline shrugs. "I know men," she states as if those three words answer the proposed question with complete clarity.

Klaus sighs in resignation and Caroline gets the feeling he has come to accept her flighty nature when it comes to him. The light in his eyes even indicates that he might be in favor of her appearances in his life.

She stays for a few hours but leaves before he can offer her dinner.

-x-

The next time she sees him, he propositions her. For reasons she doesn't understand, she pretends to agree.

The sex is passionate and so very rough—but not overly so—and when he falls asleep sated afterward, she leaves. The truth of her visits is starting to weigh down on her conscience, and she decides she doesn't like it very much.

She stays away for twenty years.

Katherine makes it abundantly clear that Caroline is not only too naïve for her own good, but that she is also certifiably insane for even entertaining the notion of having _feelings_ for the maniac. At the same time, though, Katherine may be the only one on the planet who knows beyond a shadow of a doubt what it feels like to be tangled in Klaus's web and a part of her sympathizes with Caroline.

Damon, similarly, understands attraction to that which one _knows_ is dangerous and offers his full support in hiding her again. That isn't to say he isn't often being an ass to her, however.

When, after nearly twenty years in the company of Katherine and Damon, Katherine tells her Klaus is looking for her, Caroline makes the decision to go to him.

Damon tilts his head in question and asks, "Why do you keep returning to him?"

Caroline shrugs. "I don't know anymore," she says honestly, "I just…need to."

Not another word is spoken on the subject, but the look of understanding both Katherine and Damon give her says all she needs to know.

-x-

"I could force you to stay," Klaus tells her one night, when they're lying in bed.

His arm is around her waist, and she feels it tighten as she turns to face him. "It wouldn't be nearly as much fun then, though, would it?" she asks, knowing full well that the game is what intrigues him most of all.

"Promise not to stay away for so long," he replies, not answering her question.

"Go to sleep, Klaus," Caroline whispers, not answering his.

Later, as Klaus sleeps, a part of her marvels at the realization that she has, in fact, managed to obtain the revenge she sought so many years before. She has ingrained herself into his life in such a way that he thinks he _needs_ her. She suspects she is the first thing he has felt such a need for in hundreds of years.

She leaves before he wakes.


End file.
